


Parting gesture

by prototyping



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (why would you tho), Dimigard Week (Fire Emblem), Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Male My Unit | Byleth, Prompt Fic, at least not anymore shippy than what's canon, but you can ignore that if you prefer, canon-typical violent references, for dimigard week but it's not really shippy, so just vaguely and tragically shippy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: “I’m surprised you held onto it.”(Written for DimigardWeek day 6: dagger.)
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 12
Collections: Dimigard Week





	Parting gesture

“I’m surprised you held onto it.”

It was impossible to tell whether Byleth had been dwelling on the thought for the last few minutes or was simply making conversation to ease the tension. Despite his choice of words, his tone was neutral and his gaze cool as he glanced sidelong at Dimitri.

“I… couldn’t tell you how many times I nearly threw it away,” Dimitri admitted after a moment. “Nothing good ever came of the memories it stirred up.”

The voices of the dead had mocked him for it, calling him weak and soft. Then they demanded he use it to end her life－to slit her throat, plunge it into her heart, carve her open－before mocking him again, ever impossible to please.

Byleth didn’t press, but Dimitri sensed his curiosity and added, only because it was Byleth, “Neither could I tell you my full reasoning, honestly. It served as a reminder of what I needed to do, but…” He frowned. “Even after I’d cast the past aside, it felt…”

He realized he’d slowed to a stop. Byleth did the same, turning back towards him with his usual patient, watchful expression.

“I’ve spent so much time questioning everything in my life－my choices, my mistakes, the people I thought I could trust…” said Dimitri quietly, gaze downcast. “There are still days when I question my mind, Professor. I wonder if I truly remember things as clearly, and truthfully, as I thought I did.”

He breathed in deeply, slowly, and held it for a moment. “That dagger… was the only proof I had of the girl I knew. Even when the horrors of the Tragedy blurred in my memory… when I began to forget the faces and voices of those who died there… I could still recall the day Edelgard left with painful clarity. It enraged me, mocked me, and yet… it was strangely comforting, in its own way. To know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I could remember someone once precious to me, even if it hurt.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m certain this sounds illogical－just the ramblings of a lonely, angry man...” The smile he forced was half-hearted and grim. “Perhaps Edelgard is right, and that girl is simply a face of the past now. Even so, that doesn’t make her any less real in my memory. I will continue to remember her fondly, come whatever may in the next battle.”

Byleth remained silent, finally glancing past Dimitri’s shoulder in the direction they’d just come from. “Are you alright leaving things like this?”

Dimitri nodded without hesitation. “Yes. Telling her this would change nothing. And… judging by her reaction before, I believe she may already understand how I feel.”

He liked to think so, at least. Edelgard was a lot of things, but she wasn’t the type to fake that smile she had given him, nor the warmth in her voice when she answered him. He wondered if she would keep the dagger with her, even take it into battle tomorrow, or perhaps she would find the strength he lacked to cast it aside, to bury the memory of that boy from Faerghus in the same grave as the girl with brown hair who taught him to dance.

Surprisingly, Dimitri wasn’t tempted to dwell on it. While he had hoped for a better outcome, their meeting had, at least, helped him to understand her, even if he still couldn’t agree with her. Given the circumstances, that was enough. It had to be.

Shaking his head, Dimitri offered Byleth a more genuine smile. “I’m alright. Truly.” He caught up to the professor and gripped his shoulder gently. “Thank you for coming, my friend. And for listening.”

Those words felt so terribly insufficient for all Byleth had done and continued to do, but they were all he had to offer. Judging by the way Byleth’s eyes softened as he smiled, more subdued than Dimitri’s but no less honest, they were enough.


End file.
